BEFORE THE BOOM: 45 Vintage Photos Of Macau Before It Became A Gambling Mecca

Among the crazier facts about Macau recently: growth has averaged around 19% for a decade; in 2006 Macau’s casino revenues surpassed those of Las Vegas; and the Sands Macau, opened in 2004, recouped its $265 million construction costs in one year

Today, Macau is in a bit of a crisis. This April, a shareholder in the Kimren Group, one of Macau's top high-roller promoters, took $1.3 billion worth of the company's money and vanished, causing a tidal wave of fear to wash over the Chinese province. Publicly traded junkets, which bankroll gambling rooms, have fallen as much as 11% since the Kimren incident.

That may sound dire. But the story of Macau's boom remains one of the most remarkable economic stories in history.

In the summer of 1980, Leroy W. Demery, Jr., an expert in Asian transportation, visited the country (then still a Portuguese protectorate) and documented his journey.

He posted his copyrighted photo collection to flickr, and with his kind permission we have reproduced the snapshots here.

I traveled by overnight ferry from Hong Kong to Macao, spent the day (1980 July 16) in Macao, then returned to Hong Kong by overnight ferry.

"Overnight ferry" for a 60 km distance?

Yes, one boarded the vessel about 10 p.m. The fare included a bunk in an air-conditioned dormitory - "Spartan" but very comfortable. The vessel sailed after midnight and certainly arrived within 3-4 hours. Passengers were awakened at about 6 a.m., as I remember.

Yes, catamarans and jetfoils were much faster, but fares were higher, and the overnight ferry permitted one to save the cost of overnight accommodation.

Macao, in 1980, was quiet. Very quiet. It had a distinct "small town" atmosphere that contrasted sharply with the Central District of nearby Hong Kong. Much has changed since then. Remarkably, the land area has nearly doubled, from about 16 square km to nearly 29 square km. Many of the images in this set are certainly "vanished scenes."

I regret that do not have a 1980 street map of Macao, and so am not able to locate some of these images.

Taipa island from Macao peninsula. "This scene was transformed by construction of the second Macau-Taipa bridge, started in 1990 and completed in 1994," Demery writes.

Taipa-Coloane causeway, completed in 1969 — five years before the first Macau-Taipa bridge was opened. "This is very much a 'vanished scene,'" Demery writes. "Land reclamation has created an entirely new town, Cotai, on what was once open water between the two islands."

Breakwater/small boat moorage. The original Macau-Taipa Bridge (aka Ponte Governador Nobre de Carvalho) is in the background.

Penha Hill and Our Lady of Pehna Church. "Extensive land reclamation has transformed this scene dramatically," Demery writes. "The body of water at right was once part of the Bahia da Praia Grande ("Grand Beach Bay"). It has been enclosed and is now Lago Sai Van — Sai Van Lake.

Lin Fung Temple, also known as the "Temple of the Lotus." The only temple of Taoist origin in Macao, it was founded in 1592 and is located in the northern part of the country.

Residential lane, northern Macau.

An inlet, probably north of Avenida do Almirante Lacerda. "The mountains in the background are on the Mainland. If the location is correct, then this is very much a 'vanished scene.' The 'inlet' was eliminated as part of a land reclamation project," Demery writes.

"This location was near the bus terminal in Coloane town," Demery writes. "It had a very quiet atmosphere, almost like a village. This is almost certainly a 'vanished scene.'"

View from Colina da Guia. "This is also very much a 'vanished scene' because of extensive land reclamation," Demery says. "Today's Avenida Leste do Hipodromo is located approximately where the seawall, visible in the distance, stood in 1980."